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SPORTS
DawsonNewscom
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
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BASKETBALL
Season tips off with Lady Tigers win
Jacob Smith Dawson County News
Junior Kirklyn Porter drives to the basket in the 2021-2022 season opener
against KIPP Atlanta.
Jacob Smith
jsmith@dawsonnews.com
The Dawson County
High School basketball
program kicked off their
2021-2022 season on
Saturday, Nov. 13 by
hosting a tip-off classic
tournament.
After the other games
had played, the Dawson
County Lady Tigers
hosted KIPP Atlanta,
beating them 70-12 for
their first win of the
year.
Three Lady Tigers
scored in double digits;
both junior Kirklyn
Porter and sophomore
Anna Ayers had game-
highs with 13 points
and sophomore Jaci
Wilson scored 1 1
points.
The game was all
Lady Tigers from the tip
off. At the end of the
first quarter, Dawson
Co. held a 29-2 lead.
Though the team put up
70 points in the game, it
was their defense that
truly shined, stealing
the ball 15 times and
recording 41 rebounds.
Wilson had a game-high
8 rebounds and 4
blocks. Senior Ella
Siuta and sophomores
Kindra Coker and
Morgan Chester each
recorded three steals.
Porter and Siuta each
had game-highs in
assists, with four each.
After starting the season
1-0, the Lady Tigers
will jump back into the
swing of things on
Tuesday, Nov. 16 to see
their next in-game
action, when they travel
to Johns’ Creek High
School. That game
starts at 6:00 p.m.
Boys’ game
After taking an early
lead and leading by five
points at halftime, the
Tigers basketball team
could not hold onto the
victory, losing 54-46 to
the Forsyth Central
Bulldogs, a GHSA 7A
program.
The Tigers started the
game shooting the ball
well. Sophomore Trey
Harvey, who led the
team with 17 points
scored in the game,
sank two immediate
three-pointers, dejecting
the Bulldogs’ defense.
However, once
Dawson County failed
to get open shots off
later in the game, the
Bulldogs took advan
tage on offense, taking
a one-point lead at the
end of the third quarter
and winning the game.
Senior Lane Perry
ended the game with 12
points and senior Luke
Mulberry and Harvey
each recorded a team-
high four assists. Senior
Tristan Talley led the
team with six rebounds.
The Tigers will look
for their first win of the
season against Johns’
Creek on Tuesday, Nov.
16, playing immediately
after the girls’ game.
Check those rankings!
Braedon Hubbard celebrates his second touchdown
Friday, Nov. 12.
Photos by Jacob Smith Dawson County News
of the first round victory against Sandy Creek on
Tigers win first round of state playoffs against Sandy Creek
Jacob Smith
jsmith@dawsonnews.com
Most rankings had
Sandy Creek as a top-5
team in the state for 3A
football, with some rank
ing the Patriots as high as
No. 3. Those publications
did not have Dawson
County ranked in the top
10.
After tonight, the
Tigers proved those rank
ings wrong.
On Friday, Nov. 12, the
Dawson County Tigers
beat the Sandy Creek
Patriots 36-27 to advance
to the Sweet 16 of the
GHSA 3A football state
tournament. This is the
fifth year in a row the
Tigers have advanced to
the second round of the
state tournament.
“Nothing sweeter than
this,” Tigers head coach
Sid Maxwell said after
the game. “These boys
work hard and come to
work. It doesn’t matter
who they play, they just
come out and do what we
ask them to do and exe
cute. Tonight, they came
out on top.”
It was the ground attack
on offense for the Tigers
that set the pace of the
game. As a team, the
team ran the ball 43
times, opposed to 18 pass
attempts. Feading the
way was senior Conley
Dyer, who carried the ball
23 times for 117 rushing
yards. Senior Jackson
Grindle complemented
Dyer with 17 carries for
42 rushing yards.
Though the Tigers pre
dominantly ran the ball in
the winning effort, all the
offensive scoring took
place through the air.
Senior Braedon Hubbard
may have only had three
catches, but two of them
found their way into the
endzone.
“I’m ready to travel,”
Hubbard said after the
game. “That shows you
right there, that’s one of
the top football teams in
the state of Georgia. If we
step up and do what we
do, we’re going to be
completely fine.”
Hubbard led all receiv
ers with 49 yards, but
senior Bailey Dameron
recorded five catches for
41 yards and sophomore
Dominic FeBlanc caught
two passes for 48 yards.
Holtzclaw’s third pass
ing touchdown came on a
three-yard find to junior
Kade Moledor in the back
of the endzone. Those
three yards officially
made Holtzclaw the all-
time leading passing
yards leader in Dawson
County High School his
tory. Holtzclaw said the
acknowledgement meant
nothing to him, just as
long as he and “his bud
dies” kept the season
going tonight.
“It was awesome,”
Holtzclaw said. “You
grow up playing football
together and it’s just a
bond that you can’t break.
We’re never going to get
these memories back.”
The Tigers’ defense
See Football 13B
4 new schools to
potentially join
Dawson County's
athletic region
Jacob Smith
jsmith@dawsonnews.com
After hearing 59 different appeals on
Wednesday, Nov. 10, the Georgia High School
Association (GHSA) has officially finalized
which schools will be in which classification for
the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years.
There are guaranteed changes to happen within
Region 7-3A, that Dawson County is currently a
part of. Cherokee Bluff and North Hall High
School will both move up to 4A next season and
after one season of existence, East Forsyth High
School will also make the jump to 4A.
West Hall High School was scheduled to make
the jump up to 4A alongside the other two Hall
county schools, but their appeal to remain in 3A
was approved. This leaves Dawson County, West
Hall, Gilmer, White County and Fumpkin County
as five teams remaining from Region 7-3A.
Now, the GHSA has announced the potential
new region alignments for the next two school
years and it is quite different.
Though all five teams from the current Region
7-3A previously mentioned will stick together,
the region will add four new teams: Pickens High
School, Franklin County High School, Hart
County High School and Stephens County High
School.
In this current season, Franklin and Stephens
both compete out of Region 8-3A, which will
also experience potential remodeling by losing
those two schools and gaining schools from
Augusta. Both Hart County and Pickens County
will make the jump down from 4A to 3A.
The drive from Dawson County to Hart County
will now be the longest for Tiger student athletes,
with 90 miles separating the two schools.
Franklin County is 67 miles away, Stephens
County is 66 miles away and Pickens is just 23
miles away, a shorter drive than every other
school is the region other than Fumpkin County.
Players Of The Week!
Zach Holtzclaw
Zach Holtzclaw recently
became the Dawson County
High School all-time passing
yards leader.
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Senior Jackson Grindle runs between the tackles against Sandy Creek on
Friday, Nov. 12.
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